#FreeQuinn

Hey, remember when How I Met Your Mother was a comedy with genuine laughs and everything? Yeah, that doesn't ring a bell with me either. Apparently, even the writers have forgotten that particular detail since "The Broath" -- the 19th episode in this profoundly mediocre season -- seemed deliberately calculated to contain as little humor as possible. Maybe if these people were remotely interesting anymore, the shift towards drama would be quite so jarring. But it's getting increasingly hard to recognize the characters we knew and once loved adored generally enjoyed. In their place are, as Barney describes them toward the end of the episode, a group of "presumptuous, meddlesome and downright destructive" individuals who should probably be put in a jail cell alongside the Seinfeld cast for the good of humanity. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, as that way lies a third act plot twist that we should save for the final graf... not that it isn't that hard to figure out if you're paying attention. "The Broath" begins with Barney summoning Ted to his apartment and forcing him to swear to a secret vow known as "bro-oath or The particular secret he's taking a broath to protect is that Barney's new girlfriend, Quinn, works a pole for a living. See, he's about to take the big step of introducing her to the gang, but doesn't want him revealing her past as a 1) a stripper and 2) a stripper who bilked Barney for thousands of dollars, as that information would likely prejudice them against her. Ted places his hand on Barney's leather-bound Bro Code volume and diligently swears the broath... and then spills the beans to his friends not one second later. Yet another example of why Ted Evelyn Mosby is the worst human being in the world. Anyway, the revelation that Quinn is a duplicitous stripper predictably inspires lots of hand-wringing amongst the group, just as they're about to truck over to Quinn's to have a "getting to know you" dinner with her and Barney. The night appears to go disastrously with Quinn bossing the poor guy around constantly, refusing to even let him go to the bathroom. She also mentions that her lovely, rent-controlled apartment is going on the market soon, news that's of particular interest to Robin and Ted who vacated their old apartment in the previous episode and are currently residing at a work frenemy's house and a college dorm respectively. And because it's not a How I Met Your Mother party if one couple isn't embarrassing themselves publicly, Marshall and Lily start telling old sex stories involving themselves and "anonymous" partners. Why Quinn doesn't throw them all out of her apartment right then and there indicates she's not as smart as she seem to think she is. Now convinced in the wake of this dinner that Barney and Quinn's relationship is doomed, the four decide to stage a "Quinn-tervention" on his behalf and break them up. Before the man of honor arrives, Ted and Robin bicker some more over which of them deserves Quinn's apartment more and Marshall and Lily tell more sex stories including one that once again touches on the torch Lily carries for Robin. Finally, Barney shows up to save us all from this painful, painful scene and acts all hurt and confused about Ted's having broken his broath. This inspires a random flashback to Broman Times that ends with Barney-as-Caesar fighting a bunch of ninjas because the episode was apparently running short and the writers dug up a rejected idea from a never-produced Scrubs script in order to pad out the running time. Then Quinn shows up and the Quinn-tervention really goes to shit -- or depending on your perspective, works like gangbusters -- because she and Barney instantly break up. Yay! Run, Quinn, run! Get away from this soul-sucking place and awful people. If it doesn't already exist, we're creating the #FreeQuinn hashtag on her behalf. It's the least we can do. So despite their plan having succeeded, Ted and the gang are slightly guilty about the way things went down and they trek over to Barney's apartment to apologize. Because this is Barney, apologizing involves all of them taking another broath, this time to never get involved in his personal life again unless "it's an issue of health, national security or he's about to get up on a But then -- surprise! Quinn enters the room and reveals that this whole thing has been a set-up all along. Realizing that his friends would freak out about Quinn and try to break them up, they conspired to mess with their heads for their own amusement. Realizing how effectively they've been played convinces the quartet that Quinn and Barney are, in fact, the perfect couple. So they stay together -- and even go through with their supposedly fake plan to cohabitate -- while Lily and Marshall and Ted and Robin resolve their own personal dramas for another week. As the episode draws to a close, Future Ted mentions that he and Robin don't see each other for a long time following the non-events of this episode, probably because Cobie Smulders had to go help Nick Fury and The Avengers save the world from that wascally imp Loki. Don't rush home on our account.moreless

Barney and Quinn prove they're great for each other.

I still think Barney and Robin will marry but for now the writers are doing a good job of letting us know that Barney is crazy for Quinn the Stripper. They make a plan to trick the others because Barney is positive that they won't approve of her job. He knows Ted will tell the others but falsely demands him not to. Ted, Marshall, Lily and Robin host a "Quinntervention" to get Barney to break up with Quinn. Quinn does it for him and the others start to feel bad until the duo admit they did it to teach them a lesson. Good for Barney and Quinn, who did I mention was hot? Seriously... Anyhow, Ted and Robin are fighting over Quinn's empty apartment once she moves in with Barney. Robin eventually gets a promotion and gets another apartment on another side of town, but Ted still doesn't take the apartment. But we'll save that for later.... Good, enjoyable episode as the next-to-last season winds down.moreless

They needed to call this episode 'The Quinntervention'!

I really loved this episode! It was amazing! The prank played by Barney and Quinn on the others was spectacular, and it was just epic to watch! This was downright hilarious and extremely entertaining.

I do have to comment that this is the second epic episode in a row in my opinion, so the signs are positive. I really like Quinn, and the actress is from Ugly Betty, where she was spectacular as well! The Broman scenes with Brotus and Caesar wew - hilarious!!! We studied Julius Caesar last year, so I found those scenes particularly spectacular! Keep it up, guys! I'm really loving HIMYM at the moment!moreless

Broman Times

Despite what many of you might say, this IS A COMEDY SHOW, and HIMYM writers Craig Thomas and Carter Bays have a way of sewing emotion to comedy, with a twist. I thought it was an incredible episode, and one of the funniest this whole season - all the "bro" references? Broman Times? AWESOME! Bringing up the concept of "fake history" that Barney is so attuned to - and even though they are attaching Barney to a new woman, they are trying to create the illusion that Barney is ready for something serious: with Nora, and now with Karma, so they can build up to the finale, where he would be getting married. I also liked Karma, because she is kind of like a female Barney, even if her acting might have been a little stale - also, Barney finally got to make Robin and Lily kiss! Epic moment! All in all, this was a great episode, and somebody please upload that "Bro" Gregorian chant that Barney recorded from the Monks: FUNNY!moreless

nice episode

This was really an amazing episode i liked it a lot with every thing Barney was so funny by the "Broath" stuff and Quinn is so nice she's a female Barney which makes her "awesome" but in spite of that i don't want her to the future Mrs.Stinson,I want Barney and Rpbin to end up together they are so sweet together even since season 1 and when they started having feeling for each others they fitted so much so sorry Quinn you are sooo pretty,smart,hot even hotter than Robin but it has to be Robin so really hope Quinn is just a distractionmoreless

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)

QUOTES (1)

Barney: And now to seal this sacred vow, the two ladies will kiss.Robin: Barney!Barney: The two ladies will kiss!Robin: (Robin and Lily kiss and Robin tries to pull away) Uh, Lily.Lily: Sorry.Barney : And now the gentlemen.Ted: DUDE!Barney: And now the gentlemen! (Marshall and Ted kiss) I was going to say "And now the gentlemen bump fists. How long you been holding back that one?

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